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Thursday, May 19, 2005

Mullah Rafsanjani who at the age of 73, once more wants to become president of Iran for another 8 years, in my opinion, is the living personification of Hutzpah! Hutzpah or chutzpah is a very meaningful term. It is actually a noun defined by the dictionary as utter nerve; effrontery: But a friend of my suggested a much more appropriate description for this term which will be more suitable for my purpose in the context of this column. She said the term Hutzpah is applicable to a person who murders his parents and then asks for clemency from the judge on the ground that he is an orphan!

Take a good look at Rafsanjani and his electoral manifesto. If you didn’t know him and his record, you would think that the innocent ‘Mr. Clean’ has just descended on the scene, full of good will, energy, sincerity and determination to save Iran. People of Iran know him well enough and totally reject him as well as the entire phony presidential election show. Dealing with the election issue and why it is being boycotted by practically every political group inside and outside of the country will be dealt with in another occasion.

The important issue today is to introduce the ‘real Mr. Rafsanjani’ to the world public opinion. This should be the number one priority of all Iranian patriots. We all know it will not be easy because this man controls every lever of authority inside the country with the help of his cronies and his agents. He has managed to ban and close down more than 100 newspapers and magazines. Keep dozens of journalists in jail. One such journalist, Akbar Ganji, has been in jail for the past six years-under inhuman conditions-for the crime of criticizing Mr. Rafsanjani.

The widespread net work of his paid agents from Sidney to London and from Paris to New York cover every major city, country and continent. With the generous fees that are paid from his astronomical bank accounts in major off-shore banks, these agents are trying to re-package this despicable autocrat as a moderate, pragmatic and reasonable leader who can make a deal with America!

A good example of this major ‘renovation’ and reconstruction of Dracula is exemplified in a short interview by one of the so-called accommodating academics on the current website of the Council on Foreign Relations. According to this ‘expert:’ "Rafsanjani has held every position of authority in the Islamic Republic, and therefore has the credibility, much like Nixon did vis-à-vis China, to cross that bridge."

This is only one example of the PR campaign that is being orchestrated on behalf of Rafsanjani in order to confuse and cheat the American public. Comparing a man who has been accused of murder and is under indictment in German courts in connection with murder and terrorism in Berlin, a man whose name is synonymous with corruption and violation of human rights, a man who has been shouting ‘death to America’ after every Friday prayer in Tehran and has been openly encouraging Middle Eastern terroriststo a former U.S. President, in my opinion, falls short of intellectual honesty.

Agreed! I hope others will help us remind the mainstream media of who this man is.. He has a long record to look at.